Sad Seeing Joe Lose

RANDALL MELL COMMENTARY

September 2, 2001|RANDALL MELL COMMENTARY

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Watching Joe Paterno pace the Penn State sideline in his square-rimmed glasses with those hiked-up pants over white socks and black shoes is normally among college football's wonderful Saturday rituals.

Even if you're rooting hard against him, you relish seeing him the way you relish seeing Ohio State's sousaphone player dot the `I' in Script Ohio, or Clemson players rub Howard's Rock before storming Death Valley, or War Eagle swoop over the field before kickoff at Auburn.

But Joe Pa cut a sad figure watching the Hurricanes rout his Nittany Lions 33-7 in the season opener Saturday night at Beaver Stadium.

He scratched his head, wiped the back of his neck and scratched his head again with the 'Canes driving late in the first half. There was a little more angst in his gait. His pursuit of Paul "Bear" Bryant's record looks as if it will take longer than anyone in Happy Valley dared imagine.

Paterno is still one victory away from tying Bryant's 323 wins, but all of a sudden the pursuit looks as if it could be a painful, wheezing stagger.

The Nittany Lions are coming off a 5-7 season, Paterno's worst in 35 seasons, and Saturday's debacle casts serious doubts whether he can improve on that this season.

Paterno is 74, and if there are more nights like Saturday, what's only being whispered now figures to grow louder. Is he a coaching dinosaur? Is he too old to recruit today's players? Is it time to end a glorious career?

If the season lurches into October, and Paterno still hasn't passed Bryant, the pursuit could become a sad one. Nobody liked seeing Willie Mays fumble fly balls as an aging Met in Shea Stadium? Yet, that's what it will be like if Paterno can't turn around Penn State's slide.

Just two seasons ago, Penn State was 9-0 and No. 2 in the land before losing three of their last four. The Nittany Lions have lost 11 of their past 17 since that 9-0 start. They've won once in their past seven games against Michigan and Ohio State and got routed in five of the six losses. They have failed to finish among the AP's Top 10 in the past six years.

Whether he surpasses Bryant's record or not is irrelevant to Paterno's place in the college game. He will go down as one of the greats, but you wonder if he can avoid the harsh scrutiny that inevitably comes with losing.

Will Happy Valley succumb and become Hapless Valley?

It's unthinkable that they would ever boo Paterno here, but it's not unthinkable that another losing season would make them welcome his retirement.

One of Paterno's great contributions to the game is his perspective. He always stressed academics and integrity over wins. You hope the fans won't lose their perspective if this Penn State is as bad as it looked against the 'Canes.

A record 109,313 fans squeezed into renovated Beaver Stadium, but most of them had bailed out before the fourth quarter.

"I think we are going to be a pretty good football team," Paterno said. "We knew Miami was going to be tough, and they were going to give us problems, but I didn't think we would be down 30-0 at halftime.

"I don't think we are in Miami's league, but I think as we go along we will get better."

If they don't, college football will see if the win or else mentality has infected this isolated college football haven.